Biofuel

By Jolly Researchers at Purdue University have identified and grouped the genes responsible for cell wall development in maize, which could further help discover ways to produce biomass best suited for biofuel production. Discovering some 32,000 genes of maize, scientists can study the func...

I have heard that some people are worried that renewable fuel standards or low-carbon fuel standards or simple market forces favoring biofuels will "cause people to rip up sustainable soybean fields and turn them into big switchgrass plantations." And that EPA is proposing elaborate n...

An order which includes equipment and engineering solutions for an ethanol production plant in northern Vietnam has been placed by the PetroVietnam Group with Alfa Laval it was announnced last week (29th October). The order, worth in the region of SEK 100 million ($14.2m), will see Alfa L...

Aston University’s Bioenergy Research Group (BERG) has secured €736,000 (£670,000) towards its role in DIBANET (Development of Integrated Biomass Approaches Network), which aims to produce a sustainable diesel miscible biofuel (DMB) for use in Europe and Latin America. The 42 mont...

By Rhett Butler Converting native ecosystems for production of biofuel feed stocks is worsening the greenhouse gas emissions they are intended to mitigate, reports a pair of studies published in the journal Science. The studies follow a series of reports that have linked ethanol and biodiesel produc...

By Jolly Eco Factor: Vertical farm uses algae to generate biofuel. The dependence on fossil fuels needs a break, governments are shifting their focus on better sources to generate better fuels. Bio-fuel made from algae can be the answer only if there is...

By Jason Paur The company’s says it’s secret weapon is the process it uses to create the ethanol, “at the core of Coskata technology is our proprietary micro organisms” according to Bolsen. The company takes the feedstock, wood chips in the case of the demonstration facility, and blasts it in a furnace....

The Swedish Energy R&D Board will provide an investment grant for industrial scale demonstration of Chemrec's technology for the production of BioDME and Biomethanol motor fuels . The plant will be built at the Domsjö Fabriker biorefinery in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The investment g...

By Rhett Butler Indonesian authorities are failing to prevent illegal logging and conversion of protected areas for oil palm cultivation used to supply the European market with supposedly "green" biofuels, alleges a new report from Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) and WALHI KalB...

The race is on to develop the next generation of biofuels. Biotechnology companies of all kinds have taken up the challenge and are looking in every corner of the globe for organisms that will help us make cheap, abundant, non-food based fuels. In this podcast, we'll talk to a couple compani...

The biodiesel industry has been in rough shape over the last year. With oil prices down, two thirds of American refineries sitting unused and no national target for the fuel, there are many questions about where the industry will go next. In this podcast, we'll look at what companies are doi...

There's no way that algae are sustainable as a feedstock for fuel or energy unless you can dramatically increase the yield per acre and optimize the strain for use as an energy source," said Tom Todaro, CEO of Targeted Growth. "Any type of modification requires intricate understanding of...

By Kevin Bullis A startup unveils a high-yield process for making fuel from carbon dioxide and sunlight.

By Geoffrey Styles(noreply@blogger.com) The advantages of this approach continue after production, because of the properties of the fuel. Although it is possible to build engines that capitalize on ethanol's high octane and other properties to deliver fuel economy that nearly matches gasoline, the vast majority of the ethan...

Amyris's large-scale demonstration plant will make diesel from sugarcane.

By Andrew Leonard Simply said, ethanol production today using U.S. corn contributes to the conversion of grasslands and rainforest to agriculture, causing very large GHG emissions... Even if only a small fraction of the emissions calculated in this crude way [through land use change] are added to estimates...

 Thailand The ministry plans to have only one grade of biodiesel available in the market, and it wants to switch from B2 to B5. B2 offers 2% biofuel blended in diesel, while B5 offers 5%. Currently pumps nationwide only sell B2. "We need to discuss the plan with ...

Here are three of them: Cellulosic Biofuel Makers: If you're an exec at one of the companies racing to be the first in the US to commercially produce cellulosic ethanol from non-crop plants and biowaste, then chances are, your firm has had to extend ...

By Dave Demerjian Sapphire isn’t shy about talking up the benefits of fuel made from algae, saying it  delivers 10 to 100 times more energy per acre than corn-based ethanol, which has gone out of fashion because it’s derived from food crops. Algae also uses less water than corn, and can be grown on non-arable...

By Geoffrey Styles(noreply@blogger.com) The results of Chiu, Walseth and Suh provide further support for a thorough reevaluation of US biofuel policies. Rather than trying to squeeze ever more ethanol into gasoline, with uncertain consequences for motorists, and stretching our agricultural resources by expanding unsusta...

Measuring Corn Ethanol's Thirst for Water MIT Technology Review Midwestern Ethanol Industrial Processes Use Much Less Water Than ... Science Daily (press release) Daily Digest: Pirates, ethanol production and stimulus bonds Minnesota Daily

In this video tutorial series, biofuel expert Jason Burroughs will explain the history of biodiesel, where it comes from, how its used, how to ... www.wonderhowto.com

Leaders from the solar, wind, geothermal, biofuel, hydro, utility and financial sectors came together at last week's Renewable Energy World North America Conference and Expo to talk about financial hurdles, technological advancements and the need for cooperation among all player...

By Dave Demerjian Mascoma converts plant matter into ethanol using consolidated bioprocessing. The method uses microbes to combine four biological processes -- cellulase production, cellulose hydrolysis, hexose fermentation, and pentose fermentation -- into one. The company says it is faster and c...

By Dave Demerjian Al-Najimi's comments come as a faltering economy prompts the closure of many ethanol plants and corn-based biofuels draw increasing fire in the "food for fuel" debate. There are more than 250 million "flex fuel" cars capable of running on E85, a blend containing 85 percent ethanol, in th...

By Chuck Squatriglia Power comes from a  12-cylinder twin-turbocharged engine that burns petrol. But with all of the super-luxe automakers struggling to improve fuel economy ahead of tightening efficiency and emissions regulations in America and Europe, future models will run on biofuel.

By Mike Millikin GreenShift plans to co-locate bioreactors at corn ethanol production plants and other fermentation processes where concentrated supplies of carbon dioxide are naturally emitted and are relatively easy to capture and control. GreenShift plans to leverage its existing corn oil extr...

This unit is substantially sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection under the program for renewable ... Lurgi to build 2nd generation biofuel plant Your Project News (press release)

Biofuel As a liquid, biofuel can, and does, replace liquid fuels derived from fossil oil.  Currently ethanol is used to replace some gasoline; possibly butanol will do so in the future as it has greater energy density.  Similarly biodiesel is already replacing some diesel and pilot proje...

By Biopact team(noreply@blogger.com) Research is ongoing at Michigan State University to evaluate the environmental, agronomic, and economic sustainability of bioenergy cropping systems. Support for this work was provided by USDA-CSREES, the CASMGS program, and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.

By Biopact team(noreply@blogger.com) Another point to note is that turning cellulose into biofuels is not the most efficient way to use a given stream of biomass. A considerable number of studies shows that on a farm-to-wheel basis, using biomass for the generation of electricity used in (plugin-) electric vehicles is much m...

By Mike Millikin The report sees ethanol use for gasoline blending growing to 12.2 billion gallons and E85 consumption to 17.3 billion gallons in 2030. The ethanol supply from cellulosic feedstocks reaches 12.6 billion gallons (including both domestic and imported production) in 2030. Biodiesel and biom...

By Mike Millikin JAL, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, and UOP have committed to the use of second-generation biofuel feedstocks that are more efficient and sustainable energy than first-generation counterparts. Second-generation biofuel feedstocks, such as camelina, jatropha and algae, do not comp...

By David Neal Yup, they might not wish to invite them to any conferences, but biofuel advocates have new some new converts in the form of the Burmese government. Apparently they have instructed the population, or as they like to call them, the "peasants" to grow as many of the jatropha curcas plants as po...

By Matt Feltz Rarely stated among all of the lofty rhetoric about climate change is that most of the current policy proposals are simultaneously expensive and insufficient. It will require a leap forward in technology to completely zero out carbon emissions within 50 years, which Morton believes is...

Studio 360 saves the planet. Kurt Andersen asks a priest about the Vatican’s declaration that pollution is a modern sin. Then we explore design solutions for a changing environment. Kurt visits a solar-powered subway station in Coney Island and talks to an engineer making biofuel from bac...

By Kevin Bullis A startup has raised $25 million for inexpensively producing biofuel.

By The Huffington Post News Editors Farming algae doesn't require much space or good cropland, so it avoids the fuel-for-food dilemma that has plagued first and second generation biofuels like corn, rapeseed and palm oil. It also consumes nearly twice its weight in carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas that is di...

By David Roberts grist.orgPicture a liquid fuel that is derived from the same feedstocks as cellulosic ethanol (switchgrass, sugar cane, corn stover) but contains 50% more energetic content and is made via a process that uses 65% less energy. Unlike cellulosic ethanol, this...

ST. PETERSBURG — An FPL Group subsidiary announced plans Thursday to develop a first-of-its-kind commercial plant to convert orange and grapefruit waste into ethanol that will be sold to Florida motorists at gasoline pumps. "Currently, there is no ethanol production in Florida," said...

By Glenn Hurowitz Then, the farms that replace the forests spew out greenhouse gases as workers drive their tractors and spray pesticides made in factories running on coal, natural gas, or more biofuels. And when that biofuel finally arrives in your gas tank or the local power plant, it may actually produc...

By Mike Millikin While there is clearly a growing demand for the conversion to biofuel production it could also expose governments to rising social unrest, as food prices rise and poorer members of society reap few benefits from the new ‘wondercrop’.

By Hilary Kramer Type of Stock: A player in the renewable energy sector, Xethanol concentrates on new ethanol technology, producing ethanol from biomass, developing new production plants, and acquiring other alternative fuel companies. It may get a real boost from energy legislation pending in the H...

By Mike Millikin Biobutanol is an advanced biofuel that performs more like unleaded gasoline than traditional biofuels. Test data presented earlier this year indicate that biobutanol fuel blends at a nominal 10 vol% level perform very similarly to unleaded gasoline fuel. Additionally, the energy den...

By Mike Millikin CFM is also running engine tests to develop solutions based on mixtures of jet fuel and second-generation biofuels. It is currently focusing on the evaluation of alternative fuels made using biomass which offer properties closer to those of jet fuel than do first-generation fuels such...

By Christina Aanestad The Energy Biosciences Institute is a new partnership British Petroleum - one of the worlds largest oil and energy companies - and a public university, UC Berkeley. Opponents of the deal dispute biofuels efficiency and say big oil is using the biofuel label to continue business as usual.

By Sebastian Blanco Green Q&A: Neal Anderson of the Automotive X-PrizeSundance Channel's The Green, episode 1 - Crude Awakening - reviewedDo you want to work on advanced powertrains? GM wants you!Maximum Bob leaks news about Bio-Diesel E-flex in FrankfurtAFVI Show: Cute kids tell us about green car...

By Jamie Court If Chevron and other oil companies meant what they're belatedly saying about renewable energy, they would be offering incentives to gasoline dealers willing to sell E85 and biodiesel. Instead, Big Oil is using its dealer contracts to ensure that renewable fuels won't ever cut into its m...

By Mike Millikin The European Union’s target of replacing 5.75% (18 million tons) of the fossil fuels used in transportation with biofuels by 2010 and 10% by 2020 will mean replacing 30 million tons of fossil fuels and will require significant increases in biofuel production.

By Chris McGowan Unfortunately, large-scale production of biofuel from corn, sugar cane, soybeans and other food crops could disrupt world food supplies and add to deforestation in tropical countries. And if the latter occurs, the carbon release from deforestation will outweigh the claimed biofuel...